The Ukrainian Media Fund is an international initiative of media industry in Europe to support Ukrainian journalists and publishers in times of war
€1 200 000,00
Raised for Ukrainian media till April 2024
About the fund
In response to the urgent need facing Ukrainian journalists in the time of Russian full-scale invasion in Ukraine media organizations from Denmark, Finland, Norway, Poland and Sweden launched the Ukrainian Media Fund (UMF), an initiative designed to raise funds, provide development support and know how to help local news media companies in Ukraine.
Since March 2022, Ukrainian Media Fund has been focused on supporting operational budgets of few dozens of local media outlets in Ukraine, especially in war zones, equipping hundreds of journalists with protective and communication gear and designing the scenarios of and securing funding for Ukrainian media rebuilt and reconstruction in the aftermath of war.
Since 2025 Ukrainian Media Fund is operationally led by FORENINGEN Ukranian Media Fund Nordic.
01
Ensure
financial support for the local media outlets and journalists in Ukraine, especially in war zones
03
Support
cooperation between Ukrainian and other European media and public advocacy for the reconstruction of Ukrainian media
02
Equip
journalists with protective and communication gear
04
Provide
Ukrainian local media environment with reconstruction recommendations and long-term financing strategies
Founders and partners
The UMF was initiated by the Gazeta Wyborcza Foundation and leading media organizations in Nordic countries: Bonnier News, Swedish Media Publishers’ Association (Tidningsutgivarna), Association of Danish Media (Danske Medier), Finnish Media Federation (Medialiitto), News Media Finland, and Norwegian Media Businesses’ Association (Mediebedriftenes Landsforening). The UMF has been financially supported by Nordic Founders ever since. In October 2023 the German Marshall Fund of the United States replaced the Gazeta Wyborcza Foundation in the role of the managing partner, and since 2025 the fund is managed by Ukrainian Media Fund Nordic.
Mission
The UMF was launched in solidarity with the journalists and photographers reporting every day from the frontlines in Ukraine. Its main goal is to mobilize and provide international support – both financial and material for local media outlets in Ukraine.
How does the Fund support Ukrainian media and journalists?
Ukraine has a very vibrant and diversified media landscape that comprises, besides well-established nation-wide media organizations, hundreds of regional and local media outlets across the country. These have long been the informational backbone of their communities, they shape local and regional identities, and they foster citizen participation and oversight at the grassroots level. Since the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022, local media have been key to fighting disinformation and to mobilizing societal resistance, resilience and solidarity. Their continued operations as well as further development will be critical for the short-term survival and long-term strengthening of democratic Ukraine.
In acknowledgement of this role, and in response to the urgent needs of local and regional Ukrainian media during war time, the UMF was launched in March 2022. Led by the Poland-based Gazeta Wyborcza Foundation, it was it was underwritten and resourced by six major media associations of four Nordic countries. The immediate purpose of UMF was to provide operational funding as well as protective and communication equipment to local media and journalists in war-torn regions of Ukraine. In the long-term, UMF is committed to providing financing and infrastructure to rebuild and digitally transform independent Ukrainian media. Till May 2023, UMF assistance totaled €877 000, while for 2023-2025 it is projected to reach $3.2 million.
UMF pursues a two-fold objective
First, it provides emergency assistance to local Ukrainian media outlets and journalists that are most heavily affected by the Russian war. Second, it serves as a support mechanism for the long-term recovery and development of the Ukrainian local media landscape. This dual objective translates into two programming phases that are dynamically adjusted to the ongoing war and developments in Ukraine. Emergency aid implemented since the beginning of the full-scale invasion focuses on aid responding to immediate needs assessed in close cooperation with Ukrainian media organizations: Association of Independent Regional Publishers of Ukraine (AIRPU), National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) and Ukrainian Media Business Association (UMBA). Assistance is provided for remote work equipment, protective and first-aid gear, and salaries of journalists working in the war zone.
Long-term support comprises efforts to rebuild the landscape of local Ukrainian media. During this phase, the UMF plans to research on and design reconstruction and transformation of Ukrainian local media outlets scenario and recommendations, advocate for strategic support the reconstruction of local media outlets in selected regions of Ukraine including operational and development funding, consultancy support and capacity building and business development.
Map of the network
We decided to focus on regional and local outlets to ensure that our help goes where other significant media assistance organizations might not get involved. To achieve this goal, we are working together with a number of Ukrainian associations that bring together local and regional media outlets. We are distributing Funds and equipment directly to:
